Alert archive / Florida / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 46, NWS Tampa Bay, FL

May 4, 1998Hernando County, Florida

NWS Tampa Bay, FL issued this tornado warning at May 4, 1998, 1:45 PM EDT for Hernando County, Florida. It was in force for 35 min. 1 report came from inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued: May 4, 1998, 1:45 PM EDT (17:45 UTC)
Expired: May 4, 1998, 2:20 PM EDT
In force: 35 min
Issued by: NWS Tampa Bay, FL
Area: Whole counties

County Hernando County, FL

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where	Remark
May 4, 2:15 PM EDT	Thunderstorm Wind	Spring Hill, FL	Thunderstorm winds downed several large branches in Spring Hill. A few of the large downed limbs broke windows of adjacent homes in Spring Hill.

NCEI Storm Data entries that began inside the alert's area while it was in force. Before 2003 the local storm report archive is thin, so this is the record of what happened rather than what was phoned in.

The nearest sounding before it

Tampa Bay, FL (KTBW), launched 12:00Z, 5.8 hours before the alert went out and 95 km from the middle of its area. This is the routine balloon launch nearest before it, the air the forecaster had in hand, not a measurement taken for the alert.

Skew-T log-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km.

Mixed-layer CAPE: 281 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -250 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1611 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 29 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 60 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 81 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 1.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

507 
WFUS1 KTBW 041747 RRA
TORTBW
FLC053-GMZ850-041820-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL
145 PM EDT MON MAY 4 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN RUSKIN HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  WESTERN HERNANDO COUNTY INCLUDING THE ADJACENT COASTAL WATERS

* UNTIL 220 PM EDT

* AT 142 PM...A TORNADO WAS INDICATED BY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE
  DOPPLER RADAR 5 MILES WEST OF SPRING HILL. THE TORNADO WAS MOVING
  TO THE EAST AT 30 MPH..

* SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED...
  SPRING HILL BY 155 PM.

A DOPPLER RADAR DETECTED TORNADO MEANS A TORNADO MAY NOT BE
OCCURRING AT THE MOMENT...BUT WILL LIKELY DO SO DURING THE WARNING
PERIOD. TAKE COVER IN A STURDY BUILDING. MOBILE HOMES AND CARS ARE
NOT SAFE.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this tornado warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Tampa Bay, FL wrote its last area forecast discussion before this tornado warning went out at May 4, 10:10 AM EDT, 3 hours 35 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 4, 10:10 AM EDT, 3 hours 35 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY-RUSKIN, FL
1010 AM EDT MON MAY 4 1998

TSTM ACTIVITY OVER THE NE GULF MOVING SE TOWARD N FA. JUST GOT A 53 VIL
ABT 45 MILES OFFSHR OF LEVY. DIALED INTO KTLH 88D AND LATEST VILS FOR
STORMS OVR BIG BEND/NE GULF APPROACHING 60. AT FIRST GLANCE...ATMOS
SEEMS VERY UNSTABLE. MODIFYING 12Z TBW SNDG WITH 83/62 GIVES CAPE JUST
OVER 2000. HOWEVER...MOISTR IS DEFINITELY THE LIMITING FACTOR. WITH LOTS
OF AC NOW DOWN NR SRQ...HEATING SHOULD STAY COOLER THAN CURRENT FCST...
HELPING TO KEEP INSTABILITY LOWER AT LEAST OVER CENT FA. A DIFFERENT STORY
OVER THE N FA. WITH STORMS ALREADY APPROACHING FM THE NE GULF...INCLINED
TO BEEF UP POPS TO AT LEAST GOOD CHC AND EVEN MENTION POSSIBILITY OF STRONG
STORMS. MAIN THREAT WITH ANY STRONG/SVR STORMS WILL BE HAIL AS UPR LEVEL
TEMPS VERY COLD. MAY ALSO ADD SLGT POP OVR CENT COASTAL AREA AND INCREASE
CLD COVER WORDING. WITH MORE CLDS WILL ALSO HAVE TO TWEAK DOWN FCST MAXES.
WILL CALL ALL SURROUNDING OFFICES TO COORD BEFORE CHGS MADE.

MORALES

The office that day

Everything else NWS Tampa Bay, FL issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 4, 1:36 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TBW	Hillsborough	64 min
May 4, 1:40 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TBW	Polk	50 min
May 4, 2:30 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TBW	Polk	35 min
May 4, 2:30 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TBW	Hardee, Highlands, Polk	45 min
May 4, 2:54 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TBW	Manatee	51 min
May 4, 3:19 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TBW	Highlands	41 min
May 4, 3:26 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TBW	Sarasota	44 min
May 4, 4:35 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TBW	Charlotte	45 min
May 4, 5:26 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TBW	Lee	44 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Florida, 1998 Every tornado warning in 1998 Tornadoes in 1998

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.